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aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This was excellent, I loved everything about it, I just looked very historical fantasy, especially with dragons
I can't believe her husband died!! That was so heartbreaking, he was so good for her
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If someone asked me if it were possible to simultaneously copy the Victorian memoir style and acknowledge the political and social culture that created it, I would ask if they liked dragons and hand them A Natural History of Dragons. Lady Isabella Amherst is a fascinating character as she tells the story decades later of her first expedition into the treacherous mountains of Vystrana in search of information about the biology of dragons. The split between the Isabella who is narrating the book and the Isabella we see in the narrative itself is astoundingly well-depicted, showing what decades of research and growth have given her over her younger counterpart. The care given to all aspects of the worldbuilding (religion, dragon and other creatures' biology, economics, politics, even language) creates an incredibly believable and lifelike setting. I cannot recommend this book enough!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Trafficking, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
The Vystrani religious practices very closely mimic orthodox Judaism, so I've categorized Isabella's comment about her younger self writing the Vystrani religious practices in a exoticizing/fetishizing light as similar to antisemitism (although this is in no way obvious in the text itself).asipofcozy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
When I have to skim the last 100 pages to get to the ending...that definitely lets me know there is a problem. And the problem was, I was extremely bored with A Natural History of Dragaons.
One would think with a title like that, we would get tons of dragon information, world building, and interesting insight into dragons. We maybe get a discussion on dragons every 100 pages or so and it is glossed over. There isn't any description as to why there are dragons, where they came from, why they do what they do. And granted we are learning with our main character Isabella it's still glossed over to get to the "interesting" parts. There are conversations that are had but we aren't privy to, which would have made this book interesting.
Our characters were dreadfully boring. I thought I would like Isabella, our main character, she sets herself apart from society, breaks the social chains and strives to be herself. However, she is at times was naive, aloof, and just unlikeable. This book takes place in the equivalence of our 19th century and one would think she would act sophisticated, she acts like a 19 year old from the 21st century (not a bad thing, just quite immature).
The plot is also less on dragons, learning about dragons, or dragons in general and more of the mystery of why are dragons attacking (still very little on this) and why is x,y,z person missing. At times I felt like Isabella was recounting her adventures as a detective rather than a scientist.
I think some people may like this book, and there were interesting aspects; however, the title and description is quite deceiving when we aren't given the depth of dragons as one would think. Also, I at times just didn't care, I skimmed multiple pages and chapters and still knew what was taking place because so little happened.
One would think with a title like that, we would get tons of dragon information, world building, and interesting insight into dragons. We maybe get a discussion on dragons every 100 pages or so and it is glossed over. There isn't any description as to why there are dragons, where they came from, why they do what they do. And granted we are learning with our main character Isabella it's still glossed over to get to the "interesting" parts. There are conversations that are had but we aren't privy to, which would have made this book interesting.
Our characters were dreadfully boring. I thought I would like Isabella, our main character, she sets herself apart from society, breaks the social chains and strives to be herself. However, she is at times was naive, aloof, and just unlikeable. This book takes place in the equivalence of our 19th century and one would think she would act sophisticated, she acts like a 19 year old from the 21st century (not a bad thing, just quite immature).
The plot is also less on dragons, learning about dragons, or dragons in general and more of the mystery of why are dragons attacking (still very little on this) and why is x,y,z person missing. At times I felt like Isabella was recounting her adventures as a detective rather than a scientist.
I think some people may like this book, and there were interesting aspects; however, the title and description is quite deceiving when we aren't given the depth of dragons as one would think. Also, I at times just didn't care, I skimmed multiple pages and chapters and still knew what was taking place because so little happened.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Trafficking, and Murder